Thalassaemia girl's death in Rajkot triggers uproar

The death of a 22-year-old thalassemia patient following a blood transfusion set off a major controversy in the Rajkot Civil Hospital on Tuesday with the family members of the deceased alleging that she developed complications due to unfiltered blood.

The hospital has ordered an inquiry by forming a five-member committee following the allegations.

Hospital sources said that the woman named Vidhi Pethva was admitted on Sunday noon and died on Monday morning.

The family also alleged that they had had to place multiple requests for transfusion for a week and the blood bank always asked them to arrange for blood first.

The doctors' panel will inquire into the entire treatment from the time she was admitted till she died, check if all the protocols were followed or not, how she was transfused blood, whether all other medical parameters like hypertension, diabetes etc were examined, the behavior of doctors and nursing staff, etc.

She was a regular patient of the hospital for blood transfusion. There are over 900 thalassemia patients enrolled with the Rajkot Civil Hospital for blood transfusion.